Contents

Balmain and Eastern Suburbs dominated the 14-round season, dropping just two and three games respectively. Balmain were undefeated after eight rounds but a mid-year Australian tour to New Zealand saw the black and golds lose their representative stars and their lead was lost to Eastern Suburbs for one week late in the season.

With eleven rounds played, Balmain led Eastern Suburbs by one point on the ladder but relinquished this lead by losing their round 12 match against Glebe as Eastern Suburbs beat winless Annandale 28–0. This meant Eastern Suburbs now led by one point with two rounds to play. However, they lost the very next round 15–12 to South Sydney, who had won just four of their twelve previous matches. Meanwhile, Balmain managed to beat Newtown 18–5, giving them the one point advantage heading into the final round.

The final match of the season turned out to be the decider for the premiership, with the top two teams playing one another at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground. The winner of the match would take out the premiership, whilst a draw would give Balmain the title. At the end of the day, it was the goal kicking of Balmain's Les Wall that secured the premiership, with a 13–4 win over Eastern Suburbs. Five of Wall’s attempts hit the post that day, but four crossed the bar and won Balmain the title.[2] Members of the Balmain premiership winning side included Bob Craig and Bill Kelly.

1.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement

2.
Rugby league
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Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of football, it originated in England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules gradually changed with the aim of producing a faster, in rugby league, points are scored by carrying the ball and touching it to the ground beyond the opposing teams goal line, this is called a try, and is the primary method of scoring. The opposing team attempts to stop the side scoring points by tackling the player carrying the ball. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals, after each try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion for further points. Kicks at goal may also be awarded for penalties, and field goals can be attempted at any time. Rugby league is a sport in Northern England, the states of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, New Zealand. The European Super League and Australasian National Rugby League are the club competitions. Rugby league is played internationally, predominantly by European, Australasian and Pacific Island countries, the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954, the current holders are Australia. The first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union, was established in 1895 as a faction of Englands Rugby Football Union. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves rugby football leagues, in 1922, the Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as rugby league football. In 1895, a schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union, within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution. In 1897, the line-out was abolished and in 1898 professionalism introduced, in 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after every tackle with the play the ball. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Sydney, There, on 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Batemans Hotel in George Street. Rugby league then went on to rugby union as the primary football code in New South Wales. On 5 May 1954 over 100,000 spectators watched the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England, also in 1954 the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on the tackle a scrum was to be formed. This was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover,1967 saw the first professional Sunday matches of rugby league played

3.
Sydney Roosters
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The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. Only the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the St. George Dragons have won more premierships, the club holds the record for having the most wins and the second greatest margin of victory in a match in Australian rugby league history. The Eastern Suburbs DRLFC is the club to have played in each and every season at the elite level. Coached by Trent Robinson along with captains Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend, as such, much of the clubs merchandise and paraphernalia, especially those marketed directly to long-serving and dedicated members, includes the insignia ESDRLFC. Indeed, the suburb of Sydney, postcode 2000, falls entirely within the boundaries of the ESDRLFC. Unofficially nicknamed the Tricolours due to their red, white and blue playing strip, Eastern Suburbs won its first match, however, the club rapidly declined and failed to win the premiership for the next nine seasons. Eastern Suburbs missed the finals once from 1926 to 1942, and in time won four titles. During this period, Dave Brown set several point-scoring records that still stand, in 1935, the team lost just one game, and recorded the highest winning margin in their history, an 87–7 victory over Canterbury. In 1936, Eastern Suburbs became one of five teams in history to remain undefeated for an entire season. They are the club to remain unbeaten for two consecutive seasons. Despite claiming the premiership in 1945, Eastern Suburbs failed to make the finals for the seven seasons. A runners-up finish in 1960 was the closest the club came to claiming the premiership during this era, Eastern Suburbs were soundly defeated 31–6 in the grand final that year, by the famous record-beating St George outfit. In 1966, the fell to new depths and was winless for the first time in its history. It was also the last occasion in which the Roosters won the wooden spoon until claiming it again in the 2009 season. It ended a run for Eastern Suburbs, from 1963 to 1966, they won 8 of 72 matches, finishing second to last in 1964. The club underwent a renaissance in 1967 after appointing Jack Gibson as coach, and introducing a new emblem on the playing jerseys, from 1972 to 1982, the Roosters won four minor premierships and played in four grand finals, winning two consecutively. Gibson, now dubbed as Super Coach, returned to lead the team from 1974 to 1976, in 1974 and 1975, the team won 39 of 44 matches, both minor premierships, and both grand finals and set a premiership record of 19 consecutive wins. Between 1984 and 1995, the Roosters reached the semi-finals once, the club came close to reaching the premiership in 1987 under coach and favourite son Arthur Beetson, being defeated by eventual premiers Manly in a bruising major semi-final, 10–6

4.
South Sydney Rabbitohs
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The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league team based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital, the club was formed in 1908 as one of the founding members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League, making them one of Australias oldest rugby league teams. They are one of two foundation clubs still present in the NRL, the other being the Sydney Roosters. The Rabbitohs traditional heartland covers the once typically working-class suburbs of inner-south Sydney now generally occupied by factories, the club is based in Redfern, where the clubs administration and training facilities are located, however they have long held a wide supporter base spread all over New South Wales. The teams home ground is currently Stadium Australia in Sydney Olympic Park, the club played in the first round of the newly formed New South Wales Rugby League, defeating North Sydney 11–7 at Birchgrove Oval on 20 April 1908. The team went on to win the inaugural premiership then successfully defended their title in the 1909 season, during these early years Arthur Hennessy was considered the founding father of the South Sydney rugby league club. A hooker and prop forward, Hennessy was Souths first captain and he was also New South Wales first captain and Australias first test captain in 1908. After further premiership success in 1914 and 1918, South Sydney won seven of the eight premierships from 1925–1932, the 1925 side went through the season undefeated and is only one of six Australian premiership sides in history to have achieved this feat. Such was Souths dominance in the years of the rugby league competition that the Rabbitohs were labelled The Pride of the League. South Sydney struggled through most of the 1940s, only making the semifinals on two occasions, South Sydneys longest losing streak of 22 games was during the period 1945–1947. In the 1945 season they managed to win one game while in 1946 they were unable to win a single game. In the 1950s South Sydney again had success, winning five of the six premierships from 1950–1955. Players that were involved in these years included Denis Donoghue, Jack Rayner, Les Chicka Cowie, Johnny Graves, Ian Moir, Greg Hawick, Ernie Hammerton, Bernie Purcell and Clive Churchill. Churchill, nicknamed the Little Master for his brilliant attacking play, is universally regarded as one of the greatest ever Australian rugby league players. In the late 1950s Souths began a run of form failing to make the finals from 1958–1964. However, in 1965 a talented young side made the Grand Final against St. George who were aiming to secure their 10th straight premiership. The young Rabbitohs werent overawed by the Dragons formidable experience and in front of a crowd of 78,056 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Financial problems started to hit Souths in the early 1970s, forcing players to go to other clubs

5.
Western Suburbs Magpies
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The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia. The club, as an entity, departed the top-flight competition in 1999 after forming a 50–50 joint venture with Balmain Tigers to form the Wests Tigers. The club currently fields sides in the Ron Massey Cup, Sydney Shield, S. G. Ball Cup, Campbelltown Stadium, which has a capacity of 20,000, is their home stadium. The club was one of the members of the Sydney rugby football league competition in 1908. Founded at a meeting on 4 February 1908 at Ashfield Town Hall, though they spent long periods of time as also-rans they did taste premiership success four times in the mid 20th century. They won their first premiership in 1930, beating St George 27–2, four years later they defeated Eastern Suburbs to win their second title. For the 1944 NSWRFL season Queensland 1910s representative player Henry Bolewski became coach the Western Suburbs club, replacing Alf Blair, Wests improved slightly on the previous season, finishing 5th, but failing to make the finals, and Bolewski was replaced by club great, Frank McMillan. Wests won a pair of premierships, beating Balmain in 1948. Both times they defeated a club hunting its third title in a row, apart from these occasions, the club was famous for three successive grand final matches in 1961,1962 and 1963 against the St George Dragons in the midst of their 11-premiership run. The club boasted footballers such as halfback Arthur Summons, Harry Bomber Wells, Kel OShea, Noel Kelly, the 1963 grand final was immortalised in a photograph which became known as The Gladiators after St. George captain Norm Provan and Summons trudged off the field together. A final period of glory beckoned in the late 1970s where they spent a few years at the top or near-top of the table, however attractive offers from other clubs and then doubts about the clubs viability led to years of exodus of talent. Wests did manage to win the 1977 Amco Cup, John Ribot, a winger for Wests, was the top try-scorer for the 1980 season. In 1983 the NSWRFL attempted to expel Wests from the competition, eventually, Wests relocated to Campbelltown in 1987. Ironically, this was where Newtown had unsuccessfully tried to move to four years earlier, Wests begun a rebuilding process in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Laurie Freier started the 1988 Winfield Cup season as the coach but was replaced during the season by John Bailey. The club made the finals in 1991 and 1992 under coach Warren Ryan. They were also NSWRL Club Champions in 1991 when all three made the semi-finals

6.
Balmain Tigers
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The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership. In 1999 they formed a joint venture club with the neighbouring Western Suburbs Magpies club to form the Wests Tigers for competition in the National Rugby League and they no longer field any senior teams in the lower divisions. At the time of the joint venture only South Sydney Rabbitohs, the clubs home grounds are at present Leichhardt Oval, in Lilyfield, and T. G Milner Sportsground, in Marsfield. The distinctive black and gold colours of their 1908 thin striped jerseys lead their fans to nickname them THE TIGERS. Though it is claimed they were known as The Watersiders in the early days. It seemed to be used to not only to most Balmain sporting teams. The following boxing quote is an example, taken from Sydney Sportsman 11 Dec,1901. On Xmas Eve, Cam Brookes and Ike Stewart, heavyweights, meet at the Golden Gate, Brookes is another Balmain boy, as late as the 1930s some journalists were still using both Tigers and Watersiders in the same article. One of the earliest newspaper references to Balmain & Tigers appears in The Arrow 12 August 1911, the journalist Gulliver in his Football Notes column reports, W. G. B. Writes, Who said Balmain werent rough and he is very wild, but not so wild as the Balmain footballers. In 1908 Australias first season of rugby league began in Sydney, one of the clubs founders was future Premier of New South Wales, John Storey. Their home ground was Birchgrove Park, Wallabies game at Souths home ground. Souths were officially awarded the Premiership when they kicked off to an empty half of the field, Tigers dominance continued winning the 1919 and 1920 seasons comfortably. When they won the 1924 premiership this would be the last success for Balmain for over a decade to come and it would not be until 1939 the Tigers won back the Premiership smashing Souths 33-4. The weekend of the Final will also be remembered for the invasion of Poland by Germany which led to England, post-World War II marked a golden era for Balmain with the Tigers reaching five consecutive Grand Finals winning three of them. In the 1944 Grand Final the Tigers beat the strong favourites Newtown 19-16, Balmain reached the Grand Final again in 1945 but fell at the last hurdle against Easts 22-18. The loss was not long remembered as the Tigers went on to take out the two seasons, beating St George 14-12 in 1946, and Canterbury 13-9 in 1947

7.
Bob Craig (rugby)
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Robert Robertson Bob Craig was a pioneer Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer who represented his country at both sports. He was one of Australias early dual-code rugby internationals and he was a member of the Australian rugby union team, which won the gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Prior to his rugby careers Craig was one of Australias greatest all-round sportsmen, Craig toured Britain and North America with the 1908-09 Wallabies and at the end of that tour won Olympic Gold medal in London in the team captained by Chris McKivat. On his return to Australia he joined the code of rugby league along with 13 of his Olympic teammates. His club football was played with the Balmain Tigers whom he helped to win four premierships between 1915 and 1919, Craig made his international league debut in the First Test in Sydney on 18 June 1910. Four of his former Wallaby team mates also debuted that day John Barnett, Jack Hickey, Charles Russell and he played in both rugby league Tests against Great Britain in Australia in 1910 and was selected on the 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. He played 31 tour matches and scored 7 tries and he played at second row in all three victorious Tests of the tour. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.64 and he returned to representative honors in 1914 playing two Tests when Australia hosted the Great Britain tourists. All up Craig played in seven rugby league Tests and thirty-five times for Australia and he was secretary of the Balmain Tigers between 1919-1922 and was also a delegate to the NSWRFL in 1923-1924. For a period he served as a state selector and he spent some years in Inverell, New South Wales as a publican at the Royal Hotel. In the financial crises of the 1930s he suffered losses and saw a future ahead. He committed suicide, hanging himself at a hospital in Leichhardt after being ill for some time. Bob Craig was privately cremated at Rookwood and he was survived by his wife Eleanor, and three children

8.
Alex Burdon
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Alexander Alex Burdon was a pioneer Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer - a dual-code rugby international. He was one of the fathers of rugby league in Australia. He was the captain of the Australian team enjoying that honour in the decider Test of the inaugural tour. Born in Glebe, New South Wales he played first grade for the district from 1902, similar sentiments in the North of England for working-class players who could not afford time off due to injury had indeed prompted the changes that formed the new Northern Union two years earlier. However the movement to start a league competition in Sydney was already well under way before Burdons injury. Burdon joined the newly formed Glebe Rugby League Club in 1908 and was named the clubs foundation captain and he was one of the five selectors for the Pioneer Kangaroo tour of England. He played in 25 tour matches including the first and second Anglo-Australian Test matches and he is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.29. In The First Kangaroos, a 1988 British–Australian made for TV sports film, Club, Glebe Rugby League Club1908-1020 games,3 tries Representative, Australia 2 Tests. Whiticker, Alan Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney

9.
Newtown Jets
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The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydneys inner west. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season, the Jets home ground is Henson Park, and their team colours are blue and white. Established in 1908, Newtown were one of the members of the New South Wales Rugby Football League. They competed continuously in the NSWRFL premiership until their departure in 1983, over this period they won the competition three times. This made Newtown the second rugby league club in Australia. The second club, Glebe, was formed on 9 January 1908, when the Dirty Reds were controversially excluded from the NSWRL Premiership in 1929, Newtown became the oldest Australian club. There is some argument however over whether or not Newtown was actually the first Rugby league club in Australia, the clubs website stands by this claim, however other sources, most notably Terry Williams book Out of the Blue, The History of Newtown RLFC, dispute this claim. Rugby league historian Sean Fagan similarly holds that the date of 14 January 1908 is the foundation day. The minutes of the meeting held by Newtowns Board shows the date as 8 January. Newtown played in the NSWRFL Premiership from 1908–83 and they won the 1910 NSWRFL Premiership after drawing the final was enough to see them win due to being minor premiers. A Newtown winger, Jack Scott, was the first to score a try in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. Known as the Newtown Bluebags for most of its lifetime, the club adopted the Jets nickname in 1973, or perhaps due to the close proximity of the clubs home ground, Henson Park, to the major east/west flight path for the airport. The club won premierships in 1910,1933 and 1943, and finished second in 1913,1914,1929,1944, Jack Gibson took over as Newtown coach in 1973. Gibson picked his team solely on form, irrespective of seniority, the Wills Cup Final was played under floodlights at the old Sydney Sports Ground on St Patricks day before a crowd of 13,180. At half time St George were up 15-2 and looked certain to win, the 1981 Newtown team, which played in the clubs last NSWRL premiership grand final, included the legends of game Tommy Raudonikis and Phil Gould. It was coached by Warren Ryan, financial pressures forced the team out of the NSWRL Premiership at the end of 1983. The club continued to seek readmission, pursuing various different alternatives and this plan involved a name change for the club, to the Newtown-Campbelltown Jets. The proposal, including a new logo with the new name on the royal blue jersey, was approved by the football club directors

10.
Glebe (rugby league team)
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They were formed on 9 January 1908, with some sources suggesting that they may have been the first Sydney rugby league club to have been created. They were nicknamed and well known as the Dirty Reds due to the colour of their playing jerseys. Based in Glebe, New South Wales and playing most of their home out of the local Wentworth Oval. Though they came close at times, the club was never able to secure a premiership title, after struggling towards the end of the 1920s the club was eventually voted out of the premiership. The club was revived in late 2015 and intends to field teams in 2017 for the first time in 87 years, at the turn of the 20th century, Glebe was a working-class suburb of Sydney, situated a few kilometres to the west of the city centre. A Glebe team had played in the Sydney second grade competition for a number of years. Glebe immediately made a big impact on the competition, winning all three grades in the inaugural season before taking out another three first grade titles over the next seven years. When the push for the formation of a new rugby league competition began. The Glebe District Rugby League Football Club was formed as a result on 8 January 1908, there was much support from both players and locals for the new team and this was considered an achievement in itself for the New South Wales Rugby League. As with the rugby team, the new rugby league club chose to play in maroon-coloured jerseys. The club began their campaign with an 8–5 victory over Newcastle on 20 April 1908. Throughout the season they remained close to or on top of the ladder and with one round remaining were on equal points with South Sydney. In their semi final, Glebe went down 16–3 to minor premiers South Sydney and were knocked out of the competition, in 1909, the club again lost their final regular-season match against Balmain 10–5 and ended up missing out on a possible finals berth by virtue of the loss. In 1910, the club had a season and had little chance of ever taking the premiership out. The 1911 season was arguably the most successful in the clubs history and they also secured their first-ever victory over local rivals Balmain, winning 41–2 in the second last regular-season match of the season. However, they came up against an Eastern Suburbs side led by Dally Messenger who had won six matches straight. In a match where Glebe were leading almost all the way, Eastern Suburbs fought back and took the lead within the ten minutes to 11–8. In round four, Glebe faced Eastern Suburbs in front of a crowd of 22,000 at the Royal Agricultural Society Grounds

11.
Charles Russell (rugby)
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Charles Boxer Joseph Russell was a pioneer Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer and coach. He represented his country in sports and was one Australias early dual-code rugby internationals. He was a gold medallist at the 1908 Summer Olympics, Russell was a centre/winger whose club rugby was played with the Newtown RUFC in Sydney. He played three Tests for the Wallabies in 1907 against the All Blacks before being selected for the first Wallaby tour of Britain in 1908 and he played in both Tests of the tour scoring tries in each. His 24 tries in all games of that still stands as Wallaby record. He was a member of the Australian Olympic team who won Gold in London in 1908 in the team captained by Chris McKivat, on his return to Australia he joined the fledgling code of rugby league along with 13 of his Olympic teammates. He played at full-back in the first Test against Great Britain in 1910 when Australia hosted the tourists and he was selected in 1911 for the 2nd Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and played in 24 tour matches scoring 9 tries. He played on the wing in the victorious 1st and 2nd Tests of 1911, during the 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, the first ever, Russell made his international league debut in the first Test in Sydney on 18 June. Four of his former Wallaby team mates also debuted that day John Barnett, Bob Craig, Jack Hickey and his club football was with Newtown, where he played for 7 seasons. He was captain-coach of the Newtown premiership-winning side of 1910, landing two goals to tie the final against South Sydney 4-4, thus enabling Newtown to win the premiership, Russell was also selected for the 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. Russell coached Newtown for a number of years including the winning team of 1933. He was a referee and served as an Australian rugby league selector for a number of years. Charles Russell was awarded Life Membership of the New South Wales Rugby League in 1944, in 2008, the centenary year of rugby league in Australia, Russell was named in the Newtown Jets 18-man team of the century

12.
Tedda Courtney
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Ed Tedda Courtney was a pioneer Australian rugby league footballer and Coach. He played club football for the North Sydney Bears, Western Suburbs Magpies and representative football for the New South Wales state and he is considered one of the nations finest footballers of the 20th century. Born in Sydney, Australia Courtney was one of six brothers who all played for North Sydney and his brothers Raymond and Robert died in World War I. He was a wharfie throughout his life and was renowned for his fearless tackling style. Courtney played rugby union for North Sydney and for St George, Tedda Courtney had a remarkably long first grade career that lasted for 16 seasons. Courtney joined Newtown in 1908 in the code, moved to Wests in 1909. He found his home back at Wests in 1911 where he played the next thirteen seasons. He was selected on the inaugural Kangaroo tour of 1908-09 appearing in all three Tests and in a total of games on tour on which he was the top-scoring forward with 10 tries. He made a second Kangaroo tour in 1911-12 in which he made twenty five match appearances and he played in three other Test series against Great Britain at home in 1910 and 1914 and against New Zealand in 1909, he also represented Australasia. On 14 June 1924 when Courtney was 39 he played in a game for Wests against Glebe alongside his son, Ed Courtney and it remains the only time a father and son combination has played together in a Sydney first grade game. He is listed on the Australian Players register as Kangaroo No.37, Courtney retired at the end of 1924 and returned to the district of his football beginnings - North Sydney. He coached the lower grades for some years and coached first grade in 1930, courtneys coaching services were obtained by the newly formed Canterbury-Bankstown DRLFC for their first season in 1935. In September 2004 Courtney was named at prop in the Western Suburbs Magpies team of the century, ted Courtney was a Life Member of the New South Wales Rugby League. In February 2008, Courtney was named in the list of Australias 100 Greatest Players which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the centenary year in Australia